Pomona police investigate the scene of a double-shooting along the 300 block of Orchid Lane in Pomona on Sunday. One man was killed and another wounded when shots were fired in an alleyway of the Orchid Lane Apartments on Saturday about 11:30 p.m.

Jose Cerda, 45, of Pomona was shot and killed while riding his bicycle along Lexington Avenue, west of Garey Avenue, in Pomona on Saturday. One other shooting occurred in the 1700 block of Benedict Way in Pomona early Sunday.

POMONA – Police on Sunday were investigating a spate of deadly shootings that occurred late Saturday and early Sunday morning across the city.

Two of the shootings, in which two men were killed and another seriously wounded, occurred within a mile of each other Saturday night – near the intersection of Lexington and Garey avenues and in an alley the 300 block of Orchid Lane.

The other shooting occurred at 2:52 a.m. Sunday in the 1700 block of Benedict Way.

It was unclear Sunday if any of the shootings were related.

“We’re investigating them completely separate from each other,” Lt. Eddie Vazquez said Sunday. He said the individual teams investigating each shooting will compare notes during a debriefing Monday morning.

“They’ll be able to look at some of the physical evidence and try and make a determination if one or more or them are connected. Right now it’s too early to tell,” Vazquez said.

The first shooting was reported at 9:29 p.m. Saturday. Jose Cerda, 45, of Pomona, was riding his bike along Lexington Avenue, west of Garey Avenue, when a vehicle pulled up beside him and someone from inside the vehicle shot him several times. The driver of the suspect vehicle then made a u-turn and was last seen traveling west on Lexington Avenue, then south on Park Avenue, Sgt. Steve Congalton said in a written statement.

Cerda was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

In the second shooting, police said 24-year-old Isais Garcia Lopez and an unnamed 18-year-old man were walking in an alley in the 300 block of Orchid Lane, at the Orchid Lane Apartments, at 11:30 p.m. when they were shot by “unknown suspects,” Congalton said in his news release.

Lopez was shot multiple times in the torso and died at the scene. The 18-year-old ran into a nearby courtyard and dropped on the grass near a small tree, bleeding, police and witnesses said.

“He got shot, I believe, in his left arm, right above the elbow, and he was telling police he was shot below the waist – and he was numb,” said Armando Delgadillo, 29, of the 18-year-old victim, whom police said was taken to USC Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Delgadillo lives at the apartment complex where the shooting occurred. He said he was laying down in his bedroom when heard a rapid succession of eight or nine gunshots outside. He went outside and saw the 18-year-old laying on the grass, and moved in closer and overheard what the teenager was telling police.

He said he’s lived in the neighborhood for five years. It used to be rife with gang violence, but not so much now, Delgadillo said.

“I really don’t see too much of it anymore,” said Delgadillo. “I’m not sure this was gang related.”

Police and crime scene investigators gathered evidence at the Orchid Lane crime scene throughout the morning and early afternoon Sunday, gathering evidence outside and inside a garage where a group of men had been drinking the night before, witnesses said. Investigators hauled out boxes of empty Pacifico beer bottles and bagged it as evidence.

Police also impounded two vehicles parked inside the garage – a gray Honda Accord LX and a white Honda Civic. A pool of dried blood was spotted on the floor of the garage once the vehicles were removed, but it unclear if the blood was related to the shootings.

The slaying on Orchid Lane marked the second fatal shooting in the same neighborhood in four months.

In April, 13-year-old Justin Perez and 17-year-old Andy Chavez were shot to death in the exact same location, about five feet from the garage. A third victim who drove into the alley as the shooting occurred was fired upon and wounded.

Police described the shootings as a gang-related attack.

The neighborhood, known as “Angela-Chanslor” because of Angela and Chanslor streets, was rife with crime for years. A collaborative effort between residents, elected officials and police to clean up the neighborhood was met with a significant drop in crime.

Lifelong neighborhood resident Rosa Moreno, 20, witnessed it personally, though she said an injunction against the Pomona Sur Olice street gang remains in effect for her neighborhood and outlying areas.

She said Sunday she doesn’t believe the Orchid Lane shootings were gang related, and the people sitting inside the garage all have day jobs and were just unwinding for the weekend.

In the third shooting, which occurred just before 3 a.m. Sunday in a residential neighborhood in the 1700 block of Benedict Way, 29-year-old Angel Bravo of Pomona was shot and killed as he was getting into his vehicle, police said.

Bravo had just left home to visit a store when he was ambushed, according to police.

“He went outside and was standing near his vehicle, which was parked in the street,” Congalton said in his news release. “Another vehicle pulled up next to him and began to fire at him with a handgun.”

Bravo was shot several times in the chest and died at the scene, A white compact car was seen leaving the area and may have been involved, police said.

No arrests had been made in any of the slayings, police said, and no suspect descriptions were released.

Anyone with information on any of the fatal shootings was asked to contact the Pomona Police Department Detective Bureau at 909-620-2085. Tips may also be submitted anonymously by contacting L.A. Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

Brenda Gazzar is a multilingual multimedia reporter who has worked for a variety of news outlets in California and in the Middle East since 2000. She has covered a range of issues, including breaking news, immigration, law and order, race, religion and gender issues, politics, human interest stories and education. Besides the Los Angeles Daily News and its sister papers, her work has been published by Reuters, the Denver Post, Ms. Magazine, the Jerusalem Post, USA Today, the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, The Cairo Times and others. Brenda speaks Spanish, Hebrew and intermediate Arabic and is the recipient of national, state and regional awards, including a National Headliners Award and one from the Associated Press News Executives' Council. She holds a dual master's degree in Communications/Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.

Brian Day has covered crime and breaking news for the Southern California News Group since 2007. He’s a graduate of California State University, Fullerton and Cerritos College in Norwalk. He loves dogs and has a pet German shepherd, which in turn, has a pet cat. Brian is a local news junkie, a licensed drone pilot and a part-time science geek with an unfortunate predilection for puns.

Joe Nelson is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked for The Sun since November 1999. He started as a crime reporter and went on to cover a variety of beats including courts and the cities of Colton, Highland and Grand Terrace. He has covered San Bernardino County since 2009. Nelson is a graduate of California State University Fullerton. In 2014, he completed a fellowship at Loyola Law School's Journalist Law School program.

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